Page 61 of Just My Ex

Henry keeps mentioning that he wants to go see his mother. But it’s never easy for him to go home.

I click off the phone and, as per his fastidious instructions, I check the security footage before I open the door.

“Hi, Stella,” I say, as Navie runs to jump into her arms, calling her “LaLa.” A part of me misses being a member of this family. Glad Navie gets to still claim them, but I wish I could, too.

“How’s your shoulder? Oh and your foot?”

“I still can’t run. Changing the bandages is the worst part. But I’ll heal, and if I wrap my foot tightly, I can walk. Slowly.”

“Navie,” Stella has lifted her off the ground. “I’ve missed you.”

“You just saw her yesterday,” I say with a grin. “And the day before. Man, do we owe you.”

Stella shakes her head and Navie wriggles out of her grasp to run back to her modeling clay. She’d better not make a mess in Sebastian’s suite.

“You don’t owe me. Henry has taken care of me for years. Mailing me things I needed, sending over cleaning ladies when I had surgery. No. This is the least I can do. Besides, I love Navie.”

“She loves you back.” I pause. “We all do.” I gesture to the sofas and take the one opposite her.

She smiles warmly and fluffs her silver, already voluminous, back combed hair. She’s short, so her feet don’t quite reach the floor as she settles into Sebastian’s ridiculously puffy sofa. She leans in. “Can I ask couple of questions since Henry’s not around?”

Oh boy.

But I nod, and she continues. “How have you been? Since the divorce?” Concern flickers in her eyes.

“It’s been difficult, but it’s for the best.” I chew on my lip. “It’s good that we’re not together anymore.”

“I agree.”

I must look surprised because she smiles. “I think it’s been a wake-up call for Henry. Sometimes rock bottom doesn’t just happen. Sometimes it has to have a little push.”

“I’m so used to people being sad about our divorce.”

Stella shakes her head, her eyes squeezing in sympathy. “Oh, Iamsad it came to that, certainly. You two were one of the best couples I’ve ever known. But when push came to shove, sadly, it was the right thing to split up, in my opinion.” She waves me away. “Not that my opinion matters.”

“I wish … I wish it hadn’t come to that.”

“Of course you do. I wonder if Henry got it in his head that he was right. That his career was his career and what else would he do with his life? He couldn’t step into that unknown, so he made up stories because he’s got a spectacular imagination.”

“Stories?” I cross one leg over the other. “Stella, I didn’t divorce him because he wouldn’t quit the security job.”

“You didn’t?”

“I mean, that was part of it. But there was a still a chance for us, despite all that. I was pressuring him to get help for the PTSD so that he could heal and so that he could let me into his mind and feelings a little more.” I knot my hands together. “I think I pushed too hard.” I level my gaze. “I had the right to ask him to do that. But I could have been less … controlling and prescriptive about it. I should have given him time to figure it out on his own, without pressuring and then up and leaving.”

I can’t breathe when I think of it. Like I’m trying to climb and claw at a brick wall, but it’s just a brick wall. That’s it.

“That must have been gut wrenching to be so close yet so far away from his heart. I’m so sorry.”

I press my hand against my collarbone, trying to rub away the pain that’s lodged there every time I think of this. “It’s nice to be understood. And now, being around him is different.He’sdifferent. He’s getting therapy, and even before we came here, he was much more involved in Navie’s life. But our being all together isn’t permanent.” I shake my head. “He’s going to Bern. And Navie and I are not going to Bern. So we’ll be back in the same place we were before—broken.”

Stella tsks. “He might not be in Bern too long. He might come around. He’s got to do what’s hard. If you do what is easy, your life will be harder. If you do what is hard, your life will be easier.”

“I like that.”

“I likeyou, Quinn.” Stella’s eyes sparkle. “And I’ve missed you in the family. You’re a tough cookie, and that’s served you well. Henry’s a lucky man.”

“Hewaslucky,” I smirk.

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